Dragon World Hack ©2012 By Ewen Cluney Version 0.1 Based on the rules of Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker The Basics It’s a time of adventure, of clashing swords and spells. It is an age ruled by the passions of the bold and the whims of the elder dragons. The world is full of hidden secrets and glittering treasures, of the legacies of the dragons, of fallen empires, of the demon gods of ancient times. There are mighty kingdoms, grand cities, and quaint villages, and wherever you came from, you are one of those rare people with the talent and power (or failing that, the bloody-minded determination) to leave your home to become an adventurer and seek your destiny. Dragon World is a game for getting together with friends to make up stories about a bunch of passionate weirdoes running around getting into trouble in a bright, weird fantasy setting. It’s heavily inspired by 90s fantasy comedy anime and manga like Slayers and Dragon Half, though the rules are derived from D. Vincent Baker’s game Apoca- lypse World. Another way to think of it is it’s a game for playing just the really silly parts of a D&D campaign. To play you’ll need some friends to play with (at least three people total), some six-sided dice (two per player), pencils, and paper. Printouts of the playbooks work best by far, but any paper will do in a pinch. One person is going to be the Dragon Master (or DM for short) and handle the overall game world, while the rest are players, who each have one character. Dragon World Hack (Version 0.1) Taking a cue from Dungeon World, this “Dragon World Hack” is a playable version of Dragon World, but requires the Apocalypse World rulebook (or at the very least a good knowledge of the game) in order to play. I’ll likely do a full stand-alone version with pictures and everything at some point, but for now I just want to share this fun thing I made. I’m still toying with the possibility of the wealth system that Steven Savage suggested, as well as special “story moves” that can at turns help and hinder characters and a longer DM section with more setting and NPC ideas. I also have entirely too many ideas for other character types, though I think eleven is more than enough to start with. My spitballing list of other possible types goes: Adorable Mascot, Ancient Weapon (Tio from Grandia II), Annoying Pixie, Battle Maid, Berserker Barbarian, Big Bruiser, Brain Mage (psion), Brash Combat Mage (Orphen), Country Witch (Discworld witches), Creedful Assas- sin, Creepy Summoner, Cursed Sorcerer (Zelgadiss), Desert Survivor, Dodgy Alchemist, Elemental Lunatic, Failed Wizard (Rincewind), Fightbrain, Greedy Merchant, Half Demon, Mad Dwarf, Magical Princess (magical girl/Akazukin Chacha), Minor Deity, Oblivious Tourist (Twoflower), Obnoxious Paladin, Octogenarian Barba- rian, Self-Appointed Protégé (gets moves to imitate another PC), Stolid Monk, Vampire, Wild Ranger, Zombie Lawyer 1 Random Events When you roll the dice and you get either snake eyes (11) or boxcars (66), something strange is going to hap- pen. The DM will ask the player to roll on one of the Random Event charts to find out. Snake eyes are usually bad for you and boxcars are usually bad for whoever’s working against you. If the DM feels that the random event tables in the book are getting old, or if he or she just feels like it, he or she may be using the scenes from a hat (see p. 38) method instead. The Stats There stats in this game are as follows: Bloody-Minded is your ability to stick to what you’re doing despite the odds. Charming represents attractiveness and the ability to get others to do what you want. Eldritch is knowledge of magic and other forbidden lore. Mighty is your physical strength, the ability to do damage and otherwise use brute force to get what you want. Shifty characters are hard to pin down and potentially good at doing sneaky stuff. Connections, which represent how well you understand other characters. Connections are asymmetrical, so Character A and Character B can have totally different values in their Connections to each other. MacGuffins A MacGuffin is something that lets a character accomplish something that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. In Dra- gon World a MacGuffin can be a magic sword, a spell, a potion, a book, a secret, a song… The possibilities are end- less. MacGuffins can play into the plot in all kinds of ways, but you almost always need one if you want to defeat a powerful enemy. Some MacGuffins are easier to come by than others, usually in direct proportion to how powerful they are. You’ll need some clues to find one. Clues can take just as many forms as MacGuffins themselves, and you’ll need one to three of them depending on how big a feat it’ll let you accomplish. Certain moves will give you clues, and you can also get them by beating a different bad guy, investigating stuff, or dumb luck. Falling Down This game is much too silly for characters to get injured per se. Instead, when dangerous stuff happens to them they can “fall down.” If a character falls down, he or she is incapacitated until the scene changes, which should happen fairly quickly. While they’re fallen down, other characters can imprison, strip, clothe, doodle on, or oth- erwise inconvenience them. Minor, unnamed bad guys will just stay fallen down and not come back into the game. Moderately powerful bad guys may have a chance to run away after they fall down, but they’re not going to be in the fight again for a while. When you’re dealing with really powerful bad guys you’ll need the right MacGuffin to be able to make them fall down. 2 Boss Mode “Boss Mode” is a special rule that you can invoke now and then to try to make a battle more dramatic and drawn out. It’s pretty damn simple, actually. Anything that would normally make someone fall down instead counts as a “hit,” and it takes 3 hits to make someone actually fall down. Healing type effects that can bring someone back after falling down restore one hit. Don’t Harsh the Zen This is an important one, though if you’re lucky it won’t be something you need to say out loud. Don’t be a douche, pay attention to what everyone else is doing, and don’t fight the flow. This game works with a certain lev- el of trust between the people playing. If something legitimately bothers you, that’s the one time you don’t have to go with the flow. Your character won’t always be comfortable with the situations they face (comedy is someone else’s pain), but you should be com- fortable with the game. Why to Play “Something is wrong with these people, and I don’t know what it is.” First off, the characters are hilariously insane. You might have a straight man in the group, but on the whole eve- ryone has something that can make them act strange. Second, their insanity is exponential. With so little to restrain them, they can feed on each other’s madness and reach ever greater heights of hilarity. Finally, they live in a Technicolor fantasy land where can express their madness freely. Your characters are big and bold players on the world’s stage, and they can make kings and gods tremble in fear. Or just stare, totally flabber- gasted that there are weirdoes like that running around. 3 Basic Moves The basic moves are available to all of the players’ characters. Act Sensibly Despite Temptation When you try to act sensibly despite temptation, roll+bloody-minded. On a miss you try to indulge in your tempta- tion without any regard for what else is going on. On a 7-9 you contain yourself, but it’s obvious to anyone watch- ing what you really want. On a 10+ you can manage a good poker face if you so choose. If you have two conflict- ing temptations in play, you can pick which one will affect you, but your heart’s desire always takes precedence. Endure Strife When you try to endure strife, roll+bloody-minded. On a miss you fail to endure the strife. On a 7-9 you stay stand- ing, but you’re much worse for wear, and the DM will probably mess with you. On a 10+ you emerged unscathed, and if the strife came from an NPC you get a clue about them. Kick Some Ass When you kick some ass, roll+mighty. On a miss your opponent may hand your ass to you (and make you fall down) if they want. On a 7-9 pick one. On a 10+ pick two. Make an enemy or enemy mob fall down or force another player’s character to endure strife. Humiliate them. Get a clue about them. Run Away When you run away, roll+shifty. On a 10+ you get clean away. On a 7-9 you get away, but the DM chooses one: You leave something (or someone?) behind. Your escape didn’t go unnoticed. Your escape is temporary. Spout Lore When you spout lore, roll+eldritch. On a miss the DM picks one: Your lore is subtly, dangerously wrong and you don’t know it. Your lore is obviously, humiliatingly wrong, and you look dumb in front others.